Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1887-09-08
A FRENCH MAGICIAN.

| -ClfntOn ScOlIdFu IN dOOu housekeeping.
A FRENCH MAGICIAN.
The Compile dc Saint-Germain one
day related that he had been on friend
| ly terms with Pontius Plate at Jeru-
salem. He very infinitely described
the house Of the Roman governor. and
said what dishes had been served at
table the evening he supped ut his
| place. The Cardinal dc Rohan turned
| to the comte's valet, an elderly, gray
headed man with frank, open coun-
| tenance:
my FRIEND" he said, II have some
difficulty in crediting what your master
says. That he should be 1000 years
old and have soen PontiuS Plate is
rather strange. Come, tell me, were
you there also?"
II? Oh. dear, no, Monseigneur."
candidly replied the valet. that was
before my time. i have not, as yet,
been over 400 years i'll Monsieur lie
| Comte's service"
| The conversation then fell on Nine.
d Esncrmeuil, whereupon the Comte
de Saint-Germain, full of yerve and
| prattle, disclosed the following as yet
unpublished facts concerning the in
cident which brought about the lady's
arrest and MISREPRESENTATION:
mime. dEsnermeuil," said the
comte, twas the most beautiful woman
| in Paris. She was widow, and very
fond of me-;it least thought SO. /
received more than ono lovo missive
from her, and passed many pleasant
evening in her charming villa at Yer
sailes.
Zone day she sent me very grace
fully-turned epistfe inviting me to a
| evening ut her villa. Tie handsome
widow begged me to appear in my
| most elegant costume to enhance the
| briilancy of the fete.
81 felt much ilattered by this request
and tried my best to comply with it.
| YoH may believe me when | say that
looked u trilc younger then than | do
now.
II put On my apple-grcen dress coat.
which fitted ME perfectly; each button
| on ii was q almond worth 100 louis.
the pearls tIi,i adorned my hat could
not have bccii purchased for 10000
| lou;s. | may have represented l,0O0,-
| coo louis III J"wciry. i4i the evening
| got into my state carriage. Five
laekeys attended, two leading tho way
with torches. We soon reached tho
villa of my lovely lady friend at Yer
sailles.
II was surprised on arriving to find
paaI.lx oil fb,, Windows .ia,.t and NO
appearance of ball. inquired of
the porter if Mime. d'ESnermeuil was
at home. He answered in tine aflirma-
tive, and askct! me 10 enter.
II found the lady alone. She APP
peared rs much amazed to see me as /
was not to find company.
"Comte, said She, 10 what do
owe the pleasure of your viSL!
"'As invited Il come to ynar ball
'lmposs;hir, Comte, you have MS
taken tic dag.
81 never mistake
"And took the invitation from my
pocket and showed to Nine. d'Esner-
mruil."
"'You are right, she said at last,
'the error is mine. Pray excuse me,
Comte. and do me the honor to stay TO
supper with me-.
'''But you know, madam, that
never eat anything.
But YOU drink. | have delicious !.
Corinth vino; you'mist taste it.
The handsome widow handed me n
glassful. II was not mistrust-people
arc not suspicious when in loyc-but
an old habit which induced me to take
hold of the glass with my left hand.
on the middle finger Of which | wore
a talismanic ring that King Schlomo-
the same you call Solomon-had given
me. On the under side of the ring
was an abraxas or Basilidian stone,
with gnostic inscription, and hardly
had it touched the crystal surface than
the glass was shattered into thou
sand pieces.
1.-The precious wine from Corinth,
which my lady friend had offered me.
was poisoned! At once / saw as
clearly through the whole thing as If /
had looked into magic mirror. But
the more embarrassed the lady became
the more free / felt, and the more I'M
restrainedly l continued to chat.
heard the rumble of carriage start
ing from the door. Was it my own
which had been ordered awayP
mime. d'Esnermeuil noticed that
lent an attentive ear to the noise of
the wheels as the carriage reccdcd in
the distance. She said, with some
confusion:
"'It is my old uncle who returns to
Paris"
II knew better. 1t was my car
riage, which had been sent away by
lady's maid; the coachman and SER
wants were ordered to come for me at
10 o'clock the next morning. The
lovely widow soon got so confused that
she could hardly speak. ! heard
noise in the corridor, followed by the
heavy tread of men. Madam turned
pale, and rose in hurry to leave the
room.
"'You would not leave me, dearesto
said |, without further concern.
''She stammered:
Excuse me, comte. My presence
is required elsewhere. shall come
back presently.
''But before she had time to leave /
darted into madam's eyes q magnetic
glance in which my whole power of
will was at once concentrated.
Mime d'Esmermeuil stood trans
fixed. immovable as if in a cataleptic
fit. / mesmerized her forehead with
my hand, and she sank drowsily into
an armchair,
ain this state OF somnambulism ]
could draw from her Utmost being her
most secret thoughts.
She was forced to answer all my
questions.
"'Madam,' 1 said, you meant 10
poison me with your Corinth wine?'
Yes, did; it contained prussie
acid.
land what next, having failed in
this?'
II shall have you murdered
"'By whom?
"'By my servants.
.'.Are your servants ready for the
aggression?'
They stand outside in the cor
ridor, ready armed, and await the
ringing of my bell TO rush in upon
you